A mattress mover caught swiping a ring from a Homecrest home tried to avoid arrest by flashing his own badge and claiming to be “on the job,” police alleged.

Cops said that they grabbed 35-year-old Jose Ortiz shortly after an East 13th Street woman accused him of taking a ring as he delivered a mattress to her address between Avenues S and T on March 26.

When cops frisked him, they allegedly turned up an NYPD shield, a pair of handcuffs and the stolen ring.

That’s when Ortiz said he was working undercover, said police, who took the would-be thief into custody on grand larceny charges and reported him to the NYPD impersonations unit.

Sovereign swipers

Talk about waiting for the perfect moment: A 41-year-old woman was mugged of her cash seconds after she exited a Sovereign Bank on Avenue P last week.

The woman said that she had just taken out $3,000 from the branch, located near East 3rd Street, at 11 a.m. on March 24 when a white male in his forties crept up behind her and snatched the cash from her hands.

The two fought, but the thief managed to overpower the woman and knock her to the ground.

He was last seen running to a tan minivan idling nearby.

No injuries were reported.

Cops are asking anyone with information to call the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential.

Water meter menaces

A clever ruse took a wrong turn when two thieves posing as water meter readers decided to bust into a Marine Park home on March 24.

Police estimated that 70 articles of clothing, as well as $6,000 in receipts, were taken from the store.

Thief focuses on E 55th St.

East 55th Street between Avenues J and K became a happy hunting ground for a thief with a jewelry addiction.

Police said that two homes on the block were both raided on March 26 right around the same time.

In the first instance, someone broke into a home through a back door and made off with some jewelry.

A short time later, the second home was burglarized, although police do not know just how the thief got inside. An assortment of jewelry was also taken from the second home, they said.

Door kicker sought

A thief broke into a Flatbush Avenue home the easiest way he knew how -- by kicking in the front door.

Police said that the door to the apartment near Avenue L was busted open sometime after 7 p.m. on March 27.

The victimized tenant said she didn’t know what was taken when she made her report, police said.

Starting young

A 12-year-old was arrested for burglarizing a Flatlands home March 24.

Officials said the youngster entered the East 57th Street home near Flatlands Avenue just before 9 a.m.

He was reportedly caught as he exited the home with an undisclosed amount of property.

Playing the blues

After what he went through on March 28, a 48-year-old motorist could have written a sad song about his experience.

It’s a shame, then, that someone swiped a pair of guitars from his car, which he left unlocked.

The victim told police that he had exited his car in the Toys R Us parking lot on Flatbush Avenue at 2:15 p.m. He left the toy store a short time later to find that someone had helped himself to his guitars.

This was the second time that a motorist had their car looted thanks mostly to the fact that he had left the car unlocked.

Cops were told that a Mill Island man thought that his car was safe left unlocked near his East 65th Street home on March 24, but soon learned otherwise.

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